Several years ago, I wrote about four summer vacations in America that deserve to be called “classics” – they are each somewhat unusual, and none is simply a sleep-relax-and-vegetate hotel stay. All four are still operated and still available, if you make your reservations now, at the moderate costs I’ve just confirmed. Here’s an update on what I previously wrote:
1. Country dancing at Pinewoods, Mass.: As little as $795 is charged for an all-inclusive (accommodations, meals, instruction) week. Every year from July 14 until Sept. 1, the 91-year-old Country Dance and Song Society operates its main summer camp at the 25-acre Pinewoods near Plymouth, Mass. And there, if you wish, you can wallow in traditional (mostly American and British) music and moves, past and present – from the ancient lute to the Delta banjo, and from medieval English minuets to the Virginia reel. For $795 (with discounts for kids), the week-long programs put you up in cabins, feed you all meals and cover all program fees; there’s tennis and swimming, too. Get details at 413-268-7426 or cdss.org.
2. Arts and crafts instruction at Penland: $818 brings you a full week at this famed school for working with your hands in western North Carolina. The 80-year-old institution is currently teaching one- to eight-week courses covering the likes of glassblowing, drawing, weaving, jewelry making, photography and manuscript illumination. Tuition in summer (through Aug. 31, after which only eight- week courses are available) is $397 a week; add three solid meals a day and dorm-style quarters, and your total outlay (tuition, room and board) will average $818 per week. Send inquiries to 828-765-2359 or penland.org.
3. The windjammers of Maine: A week’s sail of the New England coast aboard a historic schooner, including all meals, is priced as low as $800 to $900. On a full-size, 19th-century “tall ship,” magnificently restored to its full-mast, sail-driven splendor, you weigh anchor out of the Maine villages of Camden, Rockport or Rockland (a three-hour, $40 bus ride from Boston) and sail off the craggy shores of the Pine Tree State for six days. July, August and September are the best times for this. Of the 14 ships available to you, the least expensive are the 20-passenger Timberwind and 22-passenger Lewis R. French. Details: 800-807-9463 or sail mainecoast.com.
4. Poland Spring Resort: As little as $25 to $45 a day brings you room and two meals (that’s right) at America’s cheapest resort. Some 30 miles north of Portland, Maine, in a town more famous for its bottled water, this is surely an all-time bargain – and especially in summer (it’s open May through October). At the Inns of Poland Spring, you’ll not only pay as little as $25 a day per person for room and two meals (rates for some rooms sometimes reach $45), but a scant $25 more on weekdays and $30 on weekends will bring you a round of golf. Consult the photos and text at polandspringresort.com, then call 207-998-4351 for reservations.
Arthur Frommer, who first published “Europe on $5 A Day” in 1956, is a recognized authority on budget travel.
